Sophie's thoughts
by majobloem
Summary: Story written from Sophie's POV. When a strange girl enters the cafe, Sophie will do anything to find out who she is. But her choices have severe consequences. Did she go too far? Was it all worth it?
1. Everybody seems to know her

**A/N: This is just some random idea, i've been thinking about for a while. I wanted to try something different. I don't know how long my story will be. I'll just write as it goes. Hope you like it. Read and Review.  
The story is written from Sophie's POV. I was wondering if there were any stories about her and when I saw there weren't I decided to write something about her. It takes place during season 3. After episode 12 "Crime and punishment". Sophie already works at Rikki's. Rikki and Zane are still a couple. Will has just found out the secret and Lewis never left.**

I saw the strange girl entering the café. I was standing behind the counter, making some juices and went to customers do give the juices they had just ordered. The girl went straight over to the bar. She had medium brown hair and green eyes. I was positive I'd never seen her before, still there was something that seemed familiar about her. I just didn't know what. I smiled at her. "Can I help you?" I asked.  
"Can you tell me where I can find Zane Bennett?" she asked me.  
"I'm sorry but Mr. Bennett isn't here. He had an important business meeting this afternoon." I answered.  
"By that, you mean he's playing videogames in his office, right? Listen, I need to see him, it's important." The girl said.  
"I'm sorry but Zane's busy. He didn't want to get disturbed."  
"Then can you at least tell him, Lauren has asked for him?"  
"Okay, I will." I sighed. This girl was starting to get on my nerves.  
"Okay thank you." The girl said and left the café.

Half an hour later, Zane and Rikki entered the café. They were laughing together. What did he see in her anyway? I'd be a much better girlfriend for him. I'm older, more mature and prettier than Rikki. Why couldn't Zane just see that?  
I decided to not talk about the strange girl. She could come back if it was really important. "So how was the meeting?" I asked Zane and Rikki.  
"Great! We've made a really good deal. It will bring a lot of people to the café, and we don't have to pay anything for that. It will bring a lot of extra profit." Zane smiled. "Oh Sophie, if you want you can stop working for today. I believe you've still a lot of overtime."  
I smiled. "Okay, great! Now I can go to Will's practice. See ya later." I said, took off my apron and left the café. The rest of the day I spent with Will at the swimming pool and at his boatshed. Around 9 I went home.

The next day, I had to work my evening shift at the café. The place was overloaded, since Bella's band had a gig. Rikki, Zane, Amber and I were working around the clock. Then, all of a sudden, I saw the brown-haired girl again. She was now talking to Cleo, who was sitting next to Will. Will didn't seem to know her either, but Cleo clearly did. I saw Cleo pointing at Zane, who was standing behind the bar and I knew immediately I was in trouble.  
The girl headed to the bar and Zane seemed surprised to see her. He came from behind the counter and the two of them hugged intensely. Who was she? I walked to the counter with some empty glasses that needed to be cleaned, so I could hear their conversation.  
"I didn't know you were back. How long are you here?" Zane asked.  
"Since yesterday morning. I've been here during the afternoon but a waitress told me you weren't here. Didn't she tell you I had been asking for you?"  
"No. Who was the waitress?" Zane asked.  
"A girl with short red hair. That's her." The girl pointed in my direction. I looked innocent at her.  
"What's wrong?" I asked.  
"Why didn't you tell me Lauren has been here yesterday?" Zane looked agitated to me.  
"Sorry, I forgot. I didn't know it was so important." I said.  
"Oh, it's okay. I understand you're busy and all. No problem." The girl said to me. Then she turned her head to Zane again, while I continued cleaning glasses. "So, when do you have time for me? We need to talk, Zane?" The girl asked my boss.  
"Hey Zane, could you stop talking, please. There's heaps of work and…" Rikki stopped talking when she saw the girl's face. "Hey Lauren. Sorry I have to interrupt you guys, but it's way too crowded now."  
"Can you come back tomorrow? Then we'll talk, I promise!" Zane said. The girl nodded, ordered a juice and left half an hour later. The rest of the evening I wondered who she might be, and why everybody seemed to know her, except for me and Will.


	2. Are they flirting?

The next day, I had to work in the cafe during the afternoon. The girl named Lauren, appeared again. She and Zane took a table and talked for almost half an hour. During work I was able to pick up some things from their conversation.

"Oh God, it's so good to see you again. It's been almost a year we've seen each other." Zane smiled.  
"Yeah, I know. It's nice to be at my old home-town again. Don't get me wrong, Sydney's a great city and I feel home there, but it's different without you having around. Mailing and skyping isn't the same, is it?" Lauren said.  
"No, it isn't." Zane confirmed. "Why didn't you come earlier. I mean, it's a while know, since… you know."  
"There were still a lot of stuff that needed to be arranged, and I didn't want to leave Stephen behind, just like that. He has helped me with so much lately!" Lauren said.  
"He would have been able to that stuff on his own too."  
"Why are you always so negative about him. He hasn't done something wrong!" Lauren seemed agitated now.  
"It's not like he has ever approved me. He has never liked me, so why would I have to like him?" Zane bit back at the girl.  
"At least he was there, when I needed him. You weren't Zane."  
"You know why, Lauren. It's not like I had much of a choice."  
"Still afraid of him, are you?"  
"There has been stuff going on, you have no idea of. You don't know why I have to be careful around him. He knows stuff that can ruin people's lives!" Zane almost yelled.  
"Still, I've missed you, Zane. I've missed you back then, when I need you." Lauren softly said, almost looking guilty.  
"I know, and I wanted to be there. Not for Stephen, but for you. I want you to know that." Zane said. I saw Lauren nodding.

…

"Rikki and I are fine." Zane smiled. "We're together now for almost 2 years, and everything is going well."  
"That's nice to hear." Laure said. "I wish I could say the same."  
"What do you mean?" Zane asked.  
"Jake dumped me. For some blonde bimbo with silicones." Lauren said and Zane laughed. "It's not funny, Zane. Really, I can't believe why he chose her instead of me."  
"Because he can't see how amazing you are?" Zane said. They both laughed. Lauren put her hand on Zane's arm. He didn't pool away. Were they flirting, right after Zane said everything went well between him and Rikki? Who did that girl think she is? If there was anyone who could flirt with Zane, it would be me. One day, Zane would see I'm much better for him than Rikki or that brunette.

…

"So you're okay with it?" Lauren asked Zane now.  
"Yeah, definitely. That's gonna be awesome. If you don't mind, I only would first discuss this with Rikki. I don't think she'd make a problem out of it, but just in case, you know. She can be really stubborn." Zane said.  
"Yeah, I remember something like that. The first time she saw us together and she thought that we…" Lauren started laughing, so did Zane. "The look on her face was so funny, and she just kept yelling and insulting us. She wouldn't absolutely give us a chance to explain what was going on."  
"Yeah, well that's my Rikki." Zane said. Then the blond girl came right to them.  
"Did I hear my name?" Rikki asked.  
"Yes. We were just having some memories, and the one of us meeting the first time, came up." Lauren said.  
"Oh right, I remember. Afterwards it was pretty funny. But at the moment, I felt insulted." Rikki said.  
"You felt insulted? I remember it was you, insulting us." Lauren reacted laughing.  
"You were the one hanging around the neck of my boyfriend. I thought you two were having an affair or something." Rikki defended herself.  
"it was more 'or something' than a real affair." Zane stated.  
"Yes, I know that now, sweetie. And I have already apologized for that more than once." Rikki said. Then she looked at me, she probably had noticed I was eavesdropping. "Don't you have anything better to do than eavesdropping, Sophie?"  
"Euh… Yeah… no, I mean. I wasn't eavesdropping. I was cleaning up this table. It was a real mess." I reacted.  
"You had already done cleaning that mess about two minutes ago. Go back to work. Now!" Rikki commanded. And I started working again, not being able than pick up just some random quotes.

- Lauren: "Do you agree on it, Rikki?" And Rikki nodded.  
- Zane: "This is gonna be so great." Then they all smiled.  
- Rikki: "And Cleo was surprised last night to see you again, she told me."  
- Lauren: "No, it's just about two blocks away from here. You should come and check it out. It's a nice apartment. Just big enough for me."  
- Zane: "If you want, you can stay with me and dad."  
- Lauren: "… some space of my own."  
- Lauren: "I've got to go now. See you later." She kissed Zane and Rikki goodbye and left.

I still wondered who that girl was. Apparently she knew Zane pretty well. She even maybe seem to be his (maybe ex?)girlfriend, still they are close. Would you otherwise let a girl put her hand on your arm with your girlfriend hanging around?  
I was sure of one thing: I would find out who she was, and if she was in my way to accomplish my plan to concur Zane, I'd eliminate her.


	3. You'll get to know her soon enough

**A/N: I had fun while writing this chapter. Especially the situation with Nate. You get a first tip of who Lauren really is and where she's from.**

A few days later, Lauren was sitting at the bar with a juice. She was talking to Cleo. I wish I knew what about. The band was rehearsing and Bella was singing. When they took five, Lewis and Bella went over to Cleo and Lauren. Lauren hugged Lewis and shook Bella's hand. It looked like they were being introduced to each other.  
I walked to them to hear what they were saying. "You have amazing voice, Bella." Lauren said and Bella thanked her. "And you Lewis, I didn't know you still drummed." Lauren said.  
Lewis laughed. "I stopped when I was twelve, remember? But I started again a few months ago, when the band needed a drummer." He said.  
"Would you like to drink anything?" I asked the four of them.  
"No, thanks." Lauren said. "A orange juice, please." Cleo said. Lewis and Bella shook their head. "No, we need to rehearse again soon."  
"Okay, so just an orange juice." I smiled fakely and turned around. While walking to the other side of the bar, I could still hear them talking.  
"Well well, look who we have here. Our dear little Lauren!" I heard Nate semi-yelling, while I was making Cleo's juice. "Have you missed me, hone?" Nate asked.  
Lauren laughed. "No, not really. I actually hoped you'd be moved away by now."  
"Oh, I know you want me, babe. You just haven't admit it to yourself." Nate kept trying.  
"Oh have I?" Lauren asked surprised. She seemed thinking for a second. "No, I don't think I have to admit it to myself, because I don't want you, Nate. Bye Nate." She said and waved at the boy. When Nate walked off, looking a little depressed, the others started to laugh loudly. I must admit, I had to do great effort to keep my laugh to myself too.

After the band was done rehearsing for the day, Cleo, Lewis and Bella left together. Nate was still talking to the bassist and I went to him. "Hey Nate, can I ask you something?" I asked, while playing with my hair a little, I knew he wouldn't be able to resist.  
"Oh, hi babe. You want on the Nate-train? Sure you can ask me something." He answered and I gave him my most seducing smile.  
"Where do you know that Lauren from? Who is she?" I asked directly.  
"Oh. I thought you'd be interested in me, but because you're so gorgeous, I'll give you a chance. Why would you like to know who she is?" he said.  
"Oh, no special reason, just curiosity." I smiled again.  
"She used to live here, she our age, we were all in the same class. Until her parents got divorced about 5 years ago. Her dad stayed here, she left with her mom to Sydney." Nate answered.  
"Oh." I reacted. "How does Rikki know her. If I'm correct she didn't grew up here?"  
"She and Zane visited Lauren last year, of course. Isn't that logical?" Nate asked.  
"Oh, yes of course." I answered. I had no idea why that would be logical, but I didn't let Nate notice. I should find out, who she was eventually.

A quarter later, Zane entered the café. He and Nate went to the office, probably playing some lame videogames. I kept working until the end of my shift. Nate had left in the meantime. I went to the office to tell Zane, I'd go home and enter the office. "Hey Zane. My shift's over, so I'm out of here. I'll see you tomorrow."  
"Oh, hey Sophie, come here for a sec." Zane said, when I wanted to exit the office.  
I looked around. "Yes, what's wrong?"  
"Why are you so curious about who Lauren is?" he asked.  
"No special reason." I answered.  
"Well, I can tell you, you'll get to know her soon enough."  
"Oh, how so?" I asked interested.  
"My dad was until 2 days ago the official owner of the café. Now anymore. He sold 40% of his shares to me, 40% to Lauren and 20% to Rikki. Tomorrow Lauren starts working here, so you'll get to know her soon enough." Zane smiled broadly while saying this.  
"Oh, great." I faked a smile and left the café.

How dared that bitch? Did she think she just could come here and take over everything? First she was friendly to win their trust, then she took control of Zane, and now she would take over control of Rikki's. Why would she do something like that? What was she up to?


	4. Who is Emma?

Zane and Lauren were busy behind the counter when i entered the café. It was almost 3 o'clock in the afternoon and my shift would start. Lauren was trying out the blender apparently. I went to the ward room got changed and started to work. Unnoticed I kept an eye on Lauren. Not that Zane asked me to, I was just curious how she would cope. But I was surprised, she did her job excellent. She was friendly to the customers, didn't make wrong juices, counted the bills right, and cleaned the messy tables with great care. Despite the place was crowded, she didn't seem to have any stress. She worked hard and focused.  
When it got less busy, I started cleaning glasses. She came behind the counter to make some juices, and I started talking to her. "I must admit, I didn't expect to see you work so secure. The most new employees freak out when it's as busy as it was today."  
While still focused on the blender, she answered me. "Oh, but this isn't my first day as a waitress. When I lived in Sydney, I've worked for nearly 3 years in a restaurant as a waitress. I like it when it's crowded, it keeps me busy. I'm not the person to hang around with nothing to do."  
"Oh." I reacted.

At 6, her shift was over and she went to the office, where Zane had been hiding himself for the entire afternoon. There were only 5 customers left and I could handle it without problem on my own. I kept working, keeping an eye on the door of the office, which kept closed. At 8, Zane and Lauren came out of the office. "Time to close down." He said. "If you want, Sophie, you can go home."  
"Oh, but I'll stay to clean up. Not a problem at all." I smiled. This was my chance to hear her out a bit. So the three of us started cleaning up the café. Everything had to be tidy for the next day. While Zane was cleaning behind the counter, Lauren and I cleaned the tables and brushed the floor.  
"So, what made you decide to leave Sydney and brings you to the Gold Coast? Sydney is an amazing place. I've lived there myself a few years ago?" I asked Lauren, while keeping working.  
"Zane mostly." She smiled at me. "Then, if you think it's amazing, why did you left it?"  
"My dad has to move a lot for his job, and my mom, my brother and I have to go with him." I answered.  
"Isn't that difficult? Always leaving everything behind, when you just get used to a place?"  
"Sometimes. Especially when I was little, but now I'm used to it. I know that don't have to become to addicted to a place, because there's a huge chance I have to say goodbye sooner or later." I answered.  
"Your brother? That's Will, right?"  
"Yeah, why?" I asked. Why was she interested in Will, all of a sudden? I thought she had some crush on Zane or something.  
"Oh, just because he seems me a nice guy, that's all. And he's a friend of Cleo, Lewis and Zane, my best friends of when I still lived here. It's a shame Emma left. I was actually looking forward to see her again."  
"Who's Emma?" I asked.  
"She's a friend of Emma and Rikki. But she's on a world trip with her parents, right now. That actually seems me amazing to do. To see the world with your parents. But you probably know how that feels, don't you?"  
"Yeah, I do." I answered. After cleaning up, I left to Will's shed.

I knocked on the door. "Come in." I heard and entered. I kissed my brother hallo and after some small-talk I went to the topic I wanted to talk about. "What do you know of that Lauren?" I asked him. He looked curious at me. "Why do ya wanna know that?"  
"Oh, just because she asked about you, that's all."  
"What, she asked about me? Like what?"  
"Oh, nothing special. She wanted to know if you're a good friend of Cleo's. I said yes."  
"Okay then." He reacted, like he didn't really care. This was going the wrong way, I thougt. "She also said you seemed her a REALLY nice guy." I smirked.  
"Yeah well, I am. Didn't you know that, sis?" He teased me back. We smiled at each other.  
"She also did say something about a certain Emma? You know who that is? She's a friend of Rikki and Cleo apparently?" I asked.  
"Yeah, she left this place a few weeks before we came here. She's a good friend of Rikki, Lewis, Cleo and Zane too. I've seen her on a picture. She seems me a nice girl, but that's all I know." He said, but seemed to doubt a second. Was there something he didn't tell me about this Emma?  
A quarter later I left the shed and went home. On my way walking, I wondered about a few things. Was this Lauren having a crush on Zane or Will? Were there things my brother didn't tell me? I also realized on my way home, Lauren had been asking more questions to me, than I asked her. She seemed me kinda blear. I had to be careful around her, I decided.


	5. Who died?

They were fighting when I entered the café. It was about half an hour before the café would open I could hear shouting from the office, I went to the door who was open and peeked inside. It were Zane and Lauren. Damn', I've probably missed a piece of the fight.  
"Zane, you weren't. End of story."Lauren shouted. She sounded furious and upset at the same time.  
"You don't know why I wasn't at her funeral." Zane defended himself.  
"Because you're a coward, Zane, that's why. Stephen was there, he helped me planning the whole thing, he helped me getting over my sorrow. He was there to help, you've only called once that week."  
"I'm not a coward, Lauren. I couldn't go."  
"Then tell me why you couldn't. Or I won't stop calling you a coward." Lauren yelled.  
There was a short silence. "I can't." Zane said softly and I heard him walking to the door. I quickly ran to the counter and hided myself there, while Zane walked outside and Lauren stayed behind at the office. I heard her crying. This was my chance! I went to the office, pretending I needed Zane and I reacted surprise to only find Lauren. "Oh, hi girl. What's wrong?" I asked.  
Lauren tried to wiped away her tears, but they kept coming. "I've… I've a fight with Zane. He normally tells me everything, but now there are things he's hiding. I have no idea of what it is, but it hurts, knowing he doesn't trust me with it." She said.  
"Oh, I'm sure, it will be fine my dear." I said, while giving Lauren a hug. "What did you guys fight about? Maybe I can help?" I tried. Lauren looked at me with a confused look. "No, this is something between me and Zane. It's really nice you wanna help, but you don't know a thing about it and I don't have the time to explain it to you. It's rather complicated." Lauren said. I nodded understanding. Damn, my chance to find out who she was, was immediately gone.

During Lauren's shift they avoided each other as much as possible, and only said the real necessary stuff to each other (just things about work). I saw Rikki had noticed it. At 8,we closed down and while I was cleaning up the café, Rikki and Zane went to the office together. I went to the door eavesdropping, I guessed their talk would be about Lauren. And of course, my guess was right!  
Rikki: "Zane, what's going on between you, guys?" It sounded a little worried. "You always get along so well, and now you barely said anything to each other."  
Zane: "She came up again with the whole funeral-thing. She asked me why I wasn't there." Zane was almost crying. I felt so sorry for him. He was stuck with two annoying girls, Rikki and Lauren, while he could have me!  
Rikki: "What did you say? You've never told me either, why you didn't go. And don't use the café as an excuse, I could have taken care of it for a few days!"  
Zane: "My dad had forbidden me to go." He admitted it, after a little pause.  
Rikki: "Why the hell, would your dad forbid you to go to her funeral? And why the hell,would you listen to that, anyway. You're eighteen, Zane. You can go anywhere and do whatever you like."  
Zane: "He never could stand it she left. And it's not that simple!" Now the poor boy was really crying.  
Rikki: "Why not?"  
Zane: "He know, Rikki. He blackmailed me to reveal it to the world if I would go to Sydney one more time, even for her funeral!"  
Rikki: "Harrison knows what, Zane? What are you talking about?"  
Zane: "Your little secret!"  
Rikki: "So, you didn't go, to protect me?"  
Then there was a long silence. Suddenly I heard footsteps at the café. I turned around, surprised and saw Lauren standing behind me. "Your mother never told you it's impolite to eavesdrop?" She asked.  
"What are you doing here?" I asked. "I thought your shift was over."  
"I wanted to talk to Zane." She said.  
"Yeah, well she's busy with Rikki at the moment." I reacted immediately.  
"You seemed pretty yourself too." Lauren said. Then suddenly the door opened. Rikki looked at me. "Sophie, don't you have anything better to do than just standing there? Chop chop, go back to work! Give those two some privacy!"  
Lauren entered the office and Rikki stayed with me, to make sure I was really working.

I went home that night, thinking about all the new things I heard today. But more questions came as well. What was Rikki's secret? Who died in Sydney? And what were Lauren and Zane talking about while Rikki and I were cleaning up the café?


	6. I know your secret

I decided it was time to force some answers from them, and I would start with Rikki. If I could find out, what she was hiding she'd give me easily the answers to all my other questions. I knew Zane's father knew things about her that weren't supposed to be known. I called him and I was lucky, he wanted to see me immediately.  
The housekeeper opened the door. It was a really chic house with a giant hallway. I was amazed by seeing it. It was actually the first time I was at the Bennett's house. Probably Rikki's house wasn't as fancy as this one, since she lived in a trailer park, or so I heard. Again a reason why Zane should pick me instead of her. The housekeeper leaded me to an office and there was the man of my previous phone call sitting, busy at his computer. "Good day, Sophie." He greeted me. "Good day Mr. Bennet." I said. "Please, call me Harrison." The man said.  
I must say, we had a really interesting talk. Probably Lauren and Rikki would be interested in it as well. I called Rikki immediately. When she answered it, I just said. "I know your secret. But I have an offer. Tell me everything I wanna know and I'll keep quiet. Think about it. Dr. Denman would be delighted to know you're still a fish. I'll call you back tomorrow, then I want an answer." And I hung up. Of course I had used a secret-number so Rikki wouldn't know who had called her.

A few minutes later I saw Rikki walking at the beach, far away from the water. She stopped a second, watched the ocean and continued walking. If you looked closely at her behavior, you could tell there was something not normal about it. She avoided water, like she was afraid of it or something. I had almost talked to Will about it, but decided eventually not to. If he really knew something, he'd probably warn her to be careful and then my whole plan would totally fail. Then Bella and Cleo appeared, they were talking really anxious, and I started doubting. I thought only Cleo was one as well, and that Lewis and Zane knew. But did Bella have something to do with it? I started thinking. She was often with them and I had never seen her wet before. Oh no, I'm wrong, once Nate had spilled his juice on her, she was furious and ran to the toilet right after. Wait a sec, that was to hide her tail. She's a mermaid too, just like Cleo and Rikki. Harrison told me about Rikki, Cleo and that Emma-girl, about Lewis who knew, Zane that had found out and about a certain Dr. Linda Denman. Why didn't he tell me about her?  
Didn't he know or didn't he wanna tell me for some reason? Both options were possible. Bella was new around here so, it was possible Harrison doesn't know about her, yet. Maybe I should call him back? Or maybe I should keep this to myself, just for a little while longer.  
I walked to the café, with a smile on my face, ready to start my shift of today.

Before entering it, I heard voices. I stopped and listened, I recognized Zane's and Lauren's voices. They were fighting, again about that funeral. I still had no idea who had died and how they knew each other, but it looked like I'd fine out pretty soon. I entered the café, and they both shut up immediately and went back to work. The band was there, they were apparently waiting for Bella to arrive, before starting rehearsing. Eventually they started without her and a quarter later she finally arrived. It was kinda funny knowing why she was late, but of course I didn't say anything. For the first time in the past couple of weeks, it felt like everything would still turn out right the way I wanted. This felt so good! And I worked the whole afternoon with a smile on my face.


	7. Meet me at the beach

The next day I called Rikki again, with my secret number. "Hallo Rikki. Thought about my proposition?" I asked when she answered.  
"Who is this?" Rikki asked on the other side of the line.  
"Someone who knows what you're hiding." I said.  
"I don't know. Maybe we could work out something?" It sounded insecure. So totally not Rikki.  
"There's no negotiating, Rikki. Or you're gonna do what I want, or I'll tell the world about you."  
"Please, don't do that." She sounded almost like crying.  
"And about Cleo, and Emma, and Bella." I continued.  
"Don't! What do you want me to do?" She reacted finally the way I wanted! This was my moment to get what I want!  
"Come tomorrow to the beach near the jetty. Be there at 10. And come alone. I don't want to have any of your friends around. Understood?"  
"Yes." Rikki answered quietly, I could barely hear it. And I hung up.

The next day I watched her walking circles at the beach for nearly 20 minutes. She was already there at 9.50 AM. Then I walked over to her. She was surprised to see me. "Hi Rikki" I smiled at her. "Hi Sophie." She smiled back, but I seemed a little forced.  
"We need to talk." I said.  
"About what?" she asked. "If you want a raise on your salary, you'll have to discuss it with Zane."  
"No , it's not about that. I know what you've been hiding all this time." I said self-assured.  
"hiding what?" she asked, half-laughing.  
"The secret you share with your friends."  
"And what would that be?" she reacted like she could care less. Or there was really nothing to hide, or she was a good actress. But I knew it was the second option.  
"Your water-secret." I said. Now Rikki's expression changed. It was something between worrying, scared and surprised.  
"You're the one that has been calling me, aren't you?" Rikki said nearly furious.  
"Yes." I said shortly.  
"How do you know?" Rikki asked seriously.  
"Oh, I have my ways." I answered nonchalant. Rikki walked off furiously and I stayed behind with a big smile on my face. I'd soon have what I wanted, I knew.

Half an hour later, it was time for Will's practice and I walked over to his shed. I heard Rikki's voice screaming. "You've told her! How could you? We thought we could trust you with our secret!"  
"But you can, Rikki. I haven't told Sophie anything, I swear!" I heard my brother defending himself, apparently he knows what she's hiding. Good to know.  
"I don't believe you! You a liar and traitor!" Rikki yelled, walked outside the shed and dove immediately into the water. I saw something orange appearing in the water and then it took off.  
Then I entered Will's shed and greeted him. "Time for your practice." I smiled.  
"Not in the mood, sis." He said angry.  
"But why not? Think of our goal, Will. You have to win the Regional's to make it as a professional free-diver."  
"What goal? If I can't have my friends to share my happiness with, then what's fun about it? That's why I'm doing this, sis, you know that. It's because I love it down-there." He claimed.  
"Having fun, isn't everything in life." I said.  
"Constantly training isn't either." He answered, left his shed, jumped into his boat and went off. Shit! Now that Rikki-girl wasn't only intruding my plans with Zane, she also intruded my plans with Will. I needed to get rid of her and as soon as possible.

I hadn't heard of Will anymore that day, neither of Rikki. The next day, it was going to be exciting: I had to work a shift at the café: Lauren and Amber were working when I entered, but there was no sign of Rikki or Zane. When I asked Lauren and Amber, they didn't know either were the other bosses were. Lauren put me immediately at work and for the rest of the day, there was no Rikki or Zane to spot. That evening I decided to call her.  
"Well, decided yet?" I asked when she picked up the phone.  
"Maybe. What is it you want me to do to keep quiet?" Rikki asked me.  
"At first I want you to answer me some questions, later we'll see what else I need." I smiled.  
"Fine. Where you wanna meet?" Rikki sighed heavily. She didn't seem happy with this, but I didn't really care. It was finally time I'd get my way.  
"Again at the beach. Tomorrow afternoon, at 2 o'clock. Again you come alone!" I said.  
"Okay. See you then." Rikki said and hang up.


	8. some other questions

**A/N: in this chapter you'll find out who Lauren really is. I hope I don't let you down on this one. Please, let me know if I did or didn't. And you don't have to be afraid, the story isn't over yet: thanks to Will, Sophie gets something else to think about! Read, enjoy and review! xx**

Rikki was 5 minutes late but I didn't say anything about it. "So let's get over with it. What do you wanna know? How we changed? About our powers? How to exploit us?" Rikki asked immediately.  
"None of the above." I smiled. "I had some other questions for you."  
"What other questions?" Rikki asked surprised.  
"At first: Who's that Lauren-girl?"  
"Lauren has nothing to do with this. She doesn't even know. Even more, she has a fight with Zane because he can't tell her." Rikki nearly yelled.  
"Still, I wanna know who she is."  
"Sorry, I'm not gonna involve her in this." Rikki said and turned around to walk away from me.  
"What was Dr. Denman's number again?" I said louder than necessary. Rikki turned around and looked at me with a angry expression. "You wouldn't." She said. "Try me." I reacted.  
"Why do you wanna know who Lauren is, anyway? She's your boss. There's nothing more you need to know about her." Rikki tried to beat me off.  
"I'm just curious." I said.  
"Of course you are." Smirked Rikki.  
"Who is she? How do you know her and where's she's from?" I said now, more demanding than before. She started to get on my nerves.  
"Fine. Lauren's Zane twin-sister. She's from the Gold Coast and after their parents divorced she went with her mom, living in Sydney. I know her because I've visited her a few times with Zane. Cleo, Nate and Lewis know her because they were in the same class during primary school. Even more, Cleo and Lewis were pretty close with her back then." Rikki admitted.  
"His sister?" I asked surprised. Was that it? I thought there would be more about it.  
"Yes, his sister. Like you're the sister of Will." Rikki said.  
"Does she know about you?"  
"No, I've already told you that!"  
"And what about Emma?" I asked then.  
"What about her?" Rikki sighed. "Wait!" she then shouted. "How do you actually know about Emma? You've never met her."  
"Like I said, I have my ways."  
"It wasn't Will who told you, was it?" Rikki asked.  
"No."  
"Shit! I've shouted at him, because I thought it was him who told you. Damn' I've got to apologize to him."  
"You can do that later. First I want my answers." I said. Rikki sighed. "Fine!" she said.  
"Does Emma know Lauren?"  
"Yes. They were pretty close during primary school as well."  
"Where's Emma now?"  
"On a world trip with her family. Now, anything else you wanna know?" Rikki sighed again. I guess she really had to try to control her anger.  
I thought for a minute. "Yes, there is. How much does Will know about your secret?"  
"Everything we know." Rikki said. I sounded honestly, I must admit. So, actually my brother had been lying to me all this time. But for how long actually? I asked Rikki. "6 or 7 weeks in the meantime, I guess." She answered. "  
I said I knew enough for now, but that I'd contact her again. There were first some things I had to think through, I thought. "Oh Rikki, one more thing." I said, right before Rikki wanted to walk away. Rikki looked as me asking. "Not a word to my brother, I know this." I said.  
"Too late." Rikki answered and run off. _Shit! It was true_. She had yelled at him about me the other day.

So Lauren was only his sister, that explains a lot. Why they were so close, why her hand was on his arm, Why Harrison had given his shares to her, why Zane was broken about their fight,… And a lot of other things. This gave a lot of opportunities. She wasn't a concurrent anymore in my plans to concur Zane, for instance. And all of a sudden, I liked her a lot more.  
My thoughts were interrupted by my cell beeping. I was being called by Will, I picked up. "Hi Will." I said. "What game are you playing?" he asked seriously. "What do you mean?" I asked my brother.  
"I know you know. Rikki told me. She thought I was the one who told you. She just called me to apologize about that. Why are you blackmailing her? She hasn't done anything wrong." Will said.  
"No, but I was just…" I started, but couldn't finish my sentence, because Will interrupted me. "You were just being you. Always nosy and interfering with other people's affairs. It's already hard enough that you've never approved of my friends, but blackmailing them is too far for me to just forgive and forget. Right now, I don't wanna talk to you for a while. And don't try to call me, 'cause I won't answer. Bye, Sophie." He said cold and hung up.  
This felt strange: for a moment, I thought my life would turn out just the way I wanted, and now my brother ditched me. How could a person's life change so dramatically in only one second?


	9. Why couldn't go things my way?

Now I had to chose, and it was harrowing. I didn't know what to do. If I'd chose to continue with my plan, I'd lose my brother. If I didn't, I'd lose my chance on my dream life. I sighed to myself. What did I have to chose? What was most important to me? The next couple of days I felt lonely. When I tried to call Will, he didn't answer. And at the café, Rikki and Zane avoided me as much as possible. It actually almost surprised me, they didn't fire me immediately. Or they didn't, because they might be afraid I'd reveal the secret to the rest of the world. I actually didn't know for sure if I'd really do it or not. Threatening was easy, but actually doing it was still something else.

A week later I knew what to do. I decided to continue with my plans, Will would eventually come around, I guessed. I went to Rikki. "We need to talk." I said.  
"What is it you want now?" she sighed.  
"I want you to break up with Zane, within a week."  
"What?" Rikki shouted. "You can't be serious. No, I won't do that." She shook heavily her head. Oh God, she could be so stubborn.  
"Think about Denman." I semi-sang.  
"No. I won't!"  
"Fine by me. I'll give you time to think about it. If you still decide to break up with Zane, then do it within a week. Otherwise, I'll know what do to." I smiled at her. And as I turned around to walk away, I heard the word "Bitch." behind my back, but I didn't care. I hoped she'd do what I want.

Two days later I got a call from Harrison. Rikki still hadn't broken up with Zane and I started doubting if she eventually would do it. Zane had talked to Harrison, he said. "So, when do you wanna take action?" Harrison asked me.  
"I don't know." I said. I doubted.  
"Well, I was afraid you'd say that, so I've already taken action."  
"What? How? I thought we would do this together." I said to him.  
"You're the one who's taking action on her own. Zane told me you started blackmailing Rikki for your own profit. So then why can't I undertake something on my own?" He smirked. Shit, this was going the wrong way.  
"You've did the same with Zane. You've forbidden him to go to that funeral." I actually still didn't know who had died, but I'd find out sooner than I'd expected.  
"You, shut up, about my ex's funeral! That woman didn't deserve her son to be at her funeral." Harrison shouted through the telephone. Wow, he must really hate his ex! And so, it was Zane's mother who passed away. That must have crushed his heart. And it makes sense now why he was fighting about it with Lauren. She had to deal with it, all alone. Ah now, wait. There that guy, what was his name again? Stuart? No. Oh, what was it? Aaaahh… Stephen, then suddenly popped into my head. Right, it was Stephen. Who was he actually? Hmm… Maybe Rikki knew. "Still, you've used it against Zane." I said then back to my phone.  
"Yeah well, that's all in the past. Nothing to do about any more, just like the fact that I've already taken action to clean this mess up." Harrison retook his business voice.  
"Then what did you do?"  
"I've called Linda." He said. I was in shock now, didn't know what to do, what to say, how to react. Everything went blank. This ruined just everything! When I heard my name on the other side of the line, I realized I was still on the planet.  
"What have you told her and what is she gonna do?" I asked.  
"I've told her the three girls are still mermaids. She was very interested in it."  
"There's a fourth one." I responded immediately.  
"What? Who?"  
"Bella Heartly. A blonde girl, the singer of the band that plays at your son's café." I said. This would be my chance to take revenge on her.  
"Oh, okay then. I'll let Linda know. She's going to be here in three days. Don't tell anyone about this."  
"Okay." I said. "Good day, Harrison."  
"Bye Sophie." He said and the line went death.

Now my plans were officially over. I had three days to settle things my way. Or at least what was left of 'my way'. In those three days, I withdrew my attack on Rikki. She did tell me that Stephen was Lauren's step-father, but that wasn't really information I was concerned about. I went to Will, to say I wouldn't blackmail the girls anymore. We made up, but I wondered if he would still believe from the moment he knew Denman was coming. And to show the girls I meant what I said, I quit my job at the café. I didn't want to be confronted with them all the time anymore.  
And now that those three nerve-racking days were over, I'd meet Dr. Linda Denman.


	10. meetings

The blonde woman reached out her hand and I accepted it. She smiled, but I wasn't sure if she was really friendly woman.  
So, this was Linda Denman. This morning I had an early call from Harrison, he said I had to come to his house. When I arrived there, Zane opened the door. He looked at me with disgust. "I hope you're happy now!" He said sarcastically while exiting, after I had entered. Instinctively I walked to Harrison's office and there were they: Harrison and a young woman.  
After being introduced to each other, I knew my life was over. Zane knew, he'd tell this immediately to the rest of their gang and then they'd kill me (or at least Will would). We sat there for almost an hour, chatting about the mermaids and what we could do with them. Surprisingly enough (or not so surprisingly) we had all different ideas of what to do with them. I stated for money, Denman for science and Harrison talked about some amusement park. I felt this wouldn't end right.

After our chat, we decided to go to the café. When we arrived there, Lauren and Amber were working. There was no sign of Rikki or Zane, or of their friends. Lauren smiled. "Hi dad. Hallo Sophie." She said. Then she looked surprised at Denman. "What are you doing here?" she asked. The blonde and the brunette hugged and laughed. Lauren repeated her question.  
"I'm here for a business deal with your dad. He's sponsoring my new project." Denman answered.  
"And what is your new project?"  
"That's still a secret. But you'll find out soon enough."  
"Oh, now you've made me curious, but I know if you don't wanna tell, I'm not gonna get it out of you, so I won't try. But anyway, you guys wanna drink something?" Lauren then asked.  
"A coke, please." I said.  
"And 2 cappu's for us." Harrison said then. Lauren nodded and went to the counter. We headed to a table and sat down.  
"You two know each other?" I asked Denman. She nodded. "Yeah, the past two years, I gave diving lessons at a swimming club in Sydney. Lauren was one of my pupils, and we got along very well."  
"Apparently." Harrison said and tried to smile. It was clearly a fake-smile. Was this something he didn't count on? I thought he was such a deliberated man, that he thought everything through before undertaking action. Then Lauren came to our table with our drinks. "Hey Lauren. Do you know where your brother is? I wanted to talk to him, but he left early this morning." Harrison asked his daughter.  
"I don't know where he is, but he called this morning to tell he wouldn't come to work today. He said he had some stuff going on."  
"Are you two still fighting? Zane told me you were mad at him." Harrison said.  
"Sorta. Why?"  
"Nothing. Just curious. Euh… You see, it's my fault he didn't go to the funeral. I asked him not to."  
"Why?" Lauren asked. "I know you hated mom, but she's still our mother, you can't forbid us to visit her or to go to her funeral, can you?"  
"Yeah, I know. But I had a lot of things going on with my company and I could really use Zane's help at the time."  
"So, that's why he didn't come? He told me it was about some major secret he couldn't tell me! You're not setting me up, are you?"  
"Would I ever lie to my beautiful little girl?"

"One: that beautiful girl of yours isn't so little anymore. And two: I don't know. You could, if you wanted to. Enjoy your drinks." Lauren said and went back to work.

Half an hour later I went home. Harrison and Linda (she insisted I'd call her that way) went their own way to the Bennet's Palace. While on my way home, I decided to go to Will's. When I arrived there, it was much more crowded then I expected. They were all there: Will, Bella, Zane, Lewis, Cleo and Rikki. "Hi everyone." I said surprised, after entering without knocking first. I immediately realized this was a big mistake. 12 eyes were looking at me and I didn't know how to react.

"Oh, hi sis." Will said, after a short silence. "you know you better knock first before entering. It's not the first time I'm telling you this." He seemed agitated.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you had company." I said more angry then I meant to.  
"That's why most people knock before entering." Bella responded.

"Fine, I'm leaving." I sighed.

"No wait." Zane said. "Maybe you can tell us more about my father's visitor of this morning? With the recent developments I suppose that's why you were at my place this morning?"  
"oh wait. What visitor?" Rikki asked. This surprised me. Hadn't Zane told them yet?  
"Didn't Zane tell you already?" I asked.  
"Did he tell us what?" Lewis asked. "He called us this morning and said he needed to talk to us, but we only just got here all. So we were actually just gonna start. But if you know too what's going on, why won't YOU tell us who the visitor was?" He glared at me. Why was that nerd testing me? Did he think I was afraid of telling them?  
"Okay, fine." I said. "If you all wanna know, and may I first say this was not my idea to call her … Denman is here."


	11. Why was I honest to them?

"What?" Cleo and Rikki reacted in unison. They looked at each other. Rikki nodded and Cleo continued talking. "You're joking, right? This can't be true."  
"No, she's right. When I got up this morning, Denman and my dad were talking in his office." Zane said.  
"Wow, guys wait… Who's Denman?" My brother asked. Apparently this was a part he didn't know yet. I suddenly wondered if Bella knew who Denman was. Lewis told the story Harrison had told me about a week ago. Since then everything had gone so fast, I suddenly realized. While Lewis was talking, Rikki and Zane kept an eye on me to be sure I wouldn't ran off. Like I ever could, The story was almost the same as the one Harrison told me, but the details were different. Lewis told about the full moon, he said the girls only wanted to protect themselves, while Harrison guaranteed me they wanted to hurt him and Denman. I must say, even though this the friends of my brother weren't really my friends, their version of the story sounded more credible. It was actually almost interesting, I'd say, to hear their version.  
"So, then what are we gonna do now?" Bella asked  
"I don't know." Lewis said. Then suddenly he looked at me. "And you're saying it was Bennet's idea to call Denman?" I nodded. "How can we be sure, you're not lying? You wanted to blackmail Rikki, so why should we believe you this time?"  
"How did you find out anyway?" Cleo said.  
"Oh, she has her ways, she said." Rikki answered sarcastically.  
"And it wasn't me." My brother defended himself. "But you haven't told me either, how you exactly found out? Would you now tell me?"  
"Not with them here." I said.  
"Why did you come over here, anyway?" Will asked.  
"You wanted to know if Zane already told him, didn't you?" Rikki reacted.  
"Alright, yes, I was curious." I eventually gave in, after a short silence.  
"So, you still have to tell us how you found out?"  
"Okay, okay. I'll tell you. I heard Rikki and Zane talking. Zane said that he couldn't go to the funeral because his father knew Rikki's secret. And I was curious about what the secret could be and I… So I went to talk to Harrison. He told me about you and Denman, though he didn't know about Bella. But when I found out about you too, I told him. And a few days ago he called Denman to tell her you are still mermaids, and also that Bella's a mermaid." I said a little embarrassed and scared. I had no idea of how they'd react.  
"How can we know you're not lying?" Rikki said.  
"I can. She's still my sister, and I know when she's lying and when she's not." Will protected me.  
"Thank you, brother." I said.  
"That doesn't mean I forgive you for what you've did." He then said angrily at me.  
"I know." I said and then was saved by the bell. Zane's phone was ringing.  
"Excuse me a sec." he said to us and picked up. "Hi Laur. Still mad at me? … Euh? What do you mean? … He what? … You understand? … Yeah, okay, fine. I'll see you then. Bye." And he put away his phone. "Ah, guys, little problem: apparently my dad told Lauren why I wasn't at my mom's funeral. And Lauren said, she understood."  
"Maybe he lied to her?" Will suggested.  
"Maybe he told her the truth? This is my dad we're talking about." Zane said.  
"Maybe Will's right." I responded.  
"How would you know that?" Bella said.  
"Because Harrison, Denman and I were at the café earlier and I was there when he told Lauren. He said he needed your help at his company during that week, because he was really busy. But Lauren wasn't really believing it."  
"Of course, she doesn't believe it. She knows him as well as I know him. He's a jerk and a liar." Zane seemed angry now.

"Okay, I think it's time for some action. Zane, you and me are going to the café and are gonna figure out how much Lauren knows. Cleo and Bella, you stay away from water. Lewis and Will, could you try to figure something out, to get rid of her again?" Rikki said.  
"Like what?" Lewis asked.  
"I don't know. You're the genius, do something with that brilliant mind of yours for once, please." Rikki said. Lewis sighed. "Fine…"  
And now Rikki turned to me. "And you… I don't know yet what to do with you. I even don't know why you'd be so honest to us, and that so suddenly? Don't count on it I'm just gonna trust you like that, now. Especially not, after what your latest actions."  
Wow, even here Rikki took control of everything, just like at the café. Maybe she wasn't as bad as a leader, as I thought she was. Since she lives in a trailer and seems a rebel, I thought she wasn't a real leader type. Was I wrong again? But I must admit, she also made me think about something. Why was I all of a sudden so honest to them? I don't know. Maybe because I was scared of what they could do to me with their powers, maybe because Will was my brother and their friend, maybe because I was too surprised of seeing them all together to react otherwise, maybe because of some unexplainable reason, or maybe because Lewis had challenged me to tell them and I was too stupid to see the trap.

I didn't know what was gonna happen next, but there was one thing I did know: it was not gonna be pleasant.


	12. he knows

A few minutes later Rikki and Zane left, they'd go to Rikki's. Also Bella left, stating her mother was wondering where she was. Lewis had turned on his laptop in the meantime and was working on it. Cleo was sitting next to him and they were whispering anxiously. Probably trying to work something out to get them out of this shit. Oh, hold on a sec, did I just say they were in this shit? I mean, I'm in deep shit. I'm the one who's sitting here, not knowing what to do.  
Now, Will sat down next to me. "Why were you honest? Is this one of your sneaky plans again?" he asked suspiciously. I felt insulted. Even my own brother was doubting me.  
"No." I said.  
"Then why were you honest?" he asked me again.  
"I don't know. Okay? I hadn't counted on this situation, I didn't know how to react." I tried to defend myself, like I was talking to an enemy, instead of my brother.  
"I hadn't counted on it? Okay, I thought I knew you after 18 years. Apparently I don't." he sounded surprised and insulted at the same time. "Why could you never be just spontaneous, why do you have always have to think about on how to react, before you actually do?"  
What did he mean? Did I always have to think everything through before taking action? Did I really? Maybe I do, maybe Will's right. Damn'. Then, am I as bad as Harrison? I know he had no good intentions with the girls. Did I? Well anyway, one thing is sur: Will does know me after all these years. "You do know me after all those years, because I guess you're right." I admitted quietly.  
"But why do you always act like that?" he said more sensitively now.  
"I don't know. I think I just have to. That is just the way I am… I think" Then there a silence between us. Lewis and Cleo were still arguing and working on Lewis' pc. I was pretty sure they had overheard our conversation, even thought this wasn't really meant for them to hear it.

Almost half an hour went by. Just Lewis and Cleo were making some noise. I tried to hear what they were saying, but I couldn't understand. Will was still sitting at the same spot, next to me. He hadn't made a sound. I guess he was thinking of something, I only didn't know of what. I decided this silence had lasted long enough. "Why don't we go for a swim, Will?" I said.  
He looked surprised at me. "You feel like swimming, right now?" he asked. I nodded. "Yeah well, I don't. No, we're not gonna go for a swim. Besides, Rikki asked me to keep an eye on you, to keep you here. We're not going anywhere." He was worried, I could sense it. He was unsure about what would happen next, he was probably wondering if he and Bella had still a future together, maybe he was wondering about our relationship too.  
"But we can't stay in here forever, can we?" I asked. I noticed Lewis wanted to answer, but he was interrupted by the ringtone of my cell phone. "It's Harrison." I said. "Should I answer?"  
"You put in on speaker, so we can hear him, and you act normal, understood?" Will said seriously, like he was the criminal and I the hostage. Maybe I was. Would my brother do something like that, keeping me here for God knows how long?  
I nodded and answered the phone. "Hi Harrison."  
"Hey Sophie. Where are you? We were supposed to meet each other a quarter ago. Are you running late or did you forget?" Harrison sounded agitated.  
"No, I didn't forget. I just can't come right now."  
"Oh, and why would be that?"  
"I'm having stuff going on at home." I said unsure.  
"Stuff? Like what? And now all of a sudden? If you're too chicken to continue this, then just say it, little missy. I won't let my plans being interfered by some girlie like you." he mocked with me. It made me angry. Will could see it on my face, and warned me with a hand mark, I had to stay calm, like nothing was going on. But that was easier said than done.  
"I'm not too chicken. I just can't make it, right now. I'm sorry, Harrison. It's that my mom threw up right before I wanted to leave the house, and she's really sick, so I have to take care of her."  
"Something like 'family comes first'? oh, how sweet. So touchy." Harrison said with a sweet voice. "I don't care." He continued, with a not so sweet voice, it sounded more angrily now. "If I wanted such bullshit, I'd not want to catch my son's girlfriend, now would I?" then there was a short silence. "Sophie, can I ask you something?" Now, he sounded more reasonable again.  
"Ah… I guess?" I said unsure. Now I didn't know how to react.  
"If your family comes first…" There was a short, like he was choking on his words.  
"Yes, then what?" I asked.  
"Is that the reason why you're already for more than an hour at that stupid boatshed of your brother, where my son left half an hour ago?" he almost yelled and hung up.

Oh no! This wasn't good!

"He knows? How does he know?" Lewis asked.  
"Probably he followed me. Or someone who works for him?" I suggested  
"Probably." Will said.  
"Ah guys, sorry I'm asking this," Cleo started. "But on whose side is Sophie right now?"


	13. They got them

When Cleo asked this, the guys were chocked. I was chocked. What did she mean? I was still the one in captivity, not them. But on the other hand, Harrison was probably not planning on rescuing me. Did I need to be rescued? I mean, I might need rescue from the others, but not from Will, right? He's my brother, he wouldn't hurt me, would he? Suddenly, I started doubting on everything I thought to know for sure. How much did I actually know of him? Did he have any more secrets from me except for the mermaid-thing?  
"Sophie?" I heard suddenly. Will was waving his hand in front of my face.  
"Eh… sorry… What?" I reacted confused.  
"What do you wanna do now Harrison knows?" My brother asked.  
"How am I supposed to know?"  
"Well, it's your decision."  
"What do you mean? My decision?"  
"Yes. You're the one who got us in this mess." Lewis said.  
"Me? Your girlfriend is a mermaid. Not me."  
"I'm gonna call Zane." Cleo interrupted the little discussion. _Thank you_! She took her cell and started talking to it a few seconds later. "Hi Zane. We've got some issues around here... Still at Will's boatshed. … Your dad just called Sophie and he knows she's here. Probably he didn't trust Sophie enough and hired someone to follow her, or he followed her himself. … No, we don't know. … Okay, fine. … How much does Lauren know? … Oh, okay. At least, something we don't have to worry about. … And what do we do with Sophie? … Well, we can't force her to stay here forever." Cleo now sighed and sounded annoyed. "Fine… then tell her to hurry up, okay? … Okay, later." And she hung up.

The two blonde boys looked at her curiously. "Lauren confirmed Sophie's story. She doesn't know we're mermaids. Rikki is on her way back here and Zane said she had an idea of what to do with her." Cleo said, while pointing at me. Then she turned back to her boyfriend. "Did you already find something of the thing we've discussed just discussed?" Lewis shook his head. What was she talking about? Probably it was about the thing they were whispering of behind Lewis' laptop. Then I saw Lewis glaring to Will? Did my brother more about this? Okay, maybe a stupid question. Of course, he knows more: he knows this thing already a whole lot longer than me, so why wouldn't he know what Cleo and Lewis were talking about.  
A few minutes later Will and Lewis were busy again on Lewis' laptop. Cleo was keeping an eye on me in the meantime. I still hadn't moved from my seat, hoping I would get a little trust of them this way. Again half an hour later, Cleo started pacing restlessly in the boatshed. Lewis looked up at her. "What's wrong?" he asked her.  
"Rikki should have been here by now, right? It shouldn't take her this long to get here. I hope there nothing wrong. I'm gonna call her." Cleo said anxiously. She took her cell phone, while still pacing, and left a message on Rikki's voice mail. "I'm gonna call Bella, maybe she's seen or heard Rikki." "Okay." Lewis answered. "I'll try Zane."  
While Cleo left a message on Bella's voice mail as well, Lewis was talking to Zane. "Hi Zane. I've got a question: when did Rikki leave the café? … No, she isn't here. … Eh, okay… Yeah, I'll let you know when she arrives here. … Bye." And Lewis hung up. "She left the café half an hour ago, right after Cleo's first call. So, Zane thought she'd be here by now. I promised him I'd call him if we hear something from Rikki. So, if Rikki and Bella both don't answer, there are two possibilities."  
"And those are?" Cleo asked.  
"One: they're swimming together, or two: they got them."  
"They? Who are they?" I asked.  
"Harrison and Denman, who else?" Lewis semi-yelled at me. Cleo sighed and looked worried. "Oh no, not again." She said, then Lewis continued talking. "And since the first option doesn't seem very likely, I guess it's the second option."  
Will looked angrily at me. "Thanks a lot, sis. If something happens to Bella or Rikki, I'll never speak to you again."  
"Why would it be my fault?"  
"If you hadn't put your nose it this business, then Harrison wouldn't have called Dr. Denman, and Bella and Rikki wouldn't have been caught by them."  
"Who says he wouldn't have done it eventually?"  
"Zane: our secret was the only leverage Harrison had to control Zane. And that control was way too valuable to Harrison to just give it up." Cleo now shouted at me. She seemed very upset.  
"Okay, fine… you don't have t yell at me like that. How can I make it up?" I asked, forcing a little smile.  
"You think this is something that can be fixed, just like that? This is a lot more complicated than you'd think: first we need to know where Denman and Harrison are keeping Rikki and Bella, then we need to come up with a plan to free them, and then we have to make sure Denman, Harrison and the rest of their crew (or all the other people who found out in the meantime) shut up about it." Lewis said. "This is not some silly game. Not only the lives of our friends are at stake, ours are as well. And from now on: including yours too."  
What? My life was at stake? All I wanted was just to find out who Lauren was, and to conquer Zane, of course. This had gotten out of control. So maybe he was right, maybe it wasn't as simple as I first thought. But was my life really at stake? Was my brother's? On who's side was I, right now? Was I still in captivity, or was it my own choice now to stay here? Good God, this had gotten so complicated, way too complicated. And suddenly I knew what I was going to do. I just didn't know why.  
I saw their surprised faces, after I spoke. "And what if I have a plan to locate Rikki and Bella?"

**A/N: Oh no, can Sophie be trusted? What will her plan be? Will they use it?  
Despite my exams, I'm happy I still found some time to update my story now and then. I'm gonna try to keep uploading at least once a week, but I can't guarantee it, so please don't be mad, if it isn't uploaded sometimes. But I'll try and I hope you keep reading it. See you later!**


	14. Could my plan work?

3 pairs of surprised eyes were looking at me. "How?" Lewis asked suspiciously.  
"I don't know if it will work, but there's someone that Denman trust, maybe enough to tell her where Rikki and Bella are." I said.  
"Who?" Cleo asked me.  
"Lauren. She en Denman know each other apparently from when Lauren still lived in Sydney." _Why are you helping them_?, a voice in my head suddenly said. _I_ _don't know, maybe because I'm stuck here too_? I answered it.  
"It could work."Will defended my plan.  
"There's only one catch." Cleo said. "We have to tell Lauren the truth about mermaids."  
"Would she believe you?" Will asked.  
"At first probably not. Lauren is quite skeptical about such things. Or at least, she used to be. I'll have to show her my powers and my tail."  
"Then if she believes you, would she wanna help us?"  
"Maybe, she'd do it because we were close friends. But she'll definitely help us if she knows her brother and his girlfriend are in this shit as well."  
"Then are you gonna try it?" I asked.  
"And why would you care?" she asked me.  
"Harrison threatened me as well. You asked on which side I am right now, I think –and I can hardly believe it myself, I'm saying this, but – I think I'm on your side right now."  
"Okay, fine." Cleo said. "then I guess, we'll have to try it, unless anyone else has a suggestion?" I noticed she looked asking, maybe begging was a better word, at Lewis and Will, but they both shook their head. Then I guess, this will be the plan.  
Isn't it funny how things can turn around in just a few days? A week ago, I was blackmailing Rikki, and now I'm trying to help her escape from something I was accessory to. I realized my brother's friends weren't maybe as bad as I thought they were. They're different, for sure, but they're very loyal to each other too. They care about each other, I secretly wished I have also such loyal friends, but unfortunately I haven't.

Lewis took his mobile phone and dialed a number. "Hey. … No, she hasn't. … Okay Zane, don't freak out, but we believe Denman got her. And Bella too. … They're both unreachable. There's no other explanation for it. … Zane, calm down. Maybe we can get her free, but we need you to help us. … Sophie got an idea. I know it sounds unbelievable, but it's true, it was her idea. … Well, Sophie says your sister knows Denman from when she still lived in Sydney. Sophie had the idea that we could fill in Lauren about the mermaid-secret and that she can maybe figure out where Denman is keeping Rikki and Bella. … Okay. See you there." Then he hang up. "First of all, Cleo you don't go out mine or Will's sight. Second: the same to you Sophie, you may have come up with a plan, still doesn't mean we trust you. Third: Zane is pissed off because of the idea that his dad has done this again. And fourth: he doesn't want to wait any second longer, he wants to tell Lauren right now and she's working at the café right now. So, he asked if we could go there immediately." Will and Cleo nodded in agreement.  
A few minutes later, we all had left Will's boatshed and we're heading in my brother's boat to Rikki's. When we got there, I was actually surprised. It surprised me how much effort Cleo had to do to avoid water, while stepping out of the waltzing boat. It was now I realized it mustn't be always so easy and pleasant to be mermaid. Although I can imagine it has also its good perks. Being down there, swimming between the dolphins, the coral, the fish,… I already a lot as a scuba-diver, but doing that as a mermaid must still be something else.

When we entered the café, Zane and Lauren we're talking inaudible behind the counter. Then he looked in our direction. Nate was also there, he came right to Lewis. "Oh Lewis, finally, there you are. You were supposed to be here already 15 minutes ago. For our rehearsal, remember? And do you know where Bella is? She isn't here yet either! And she doesn't answer my calls. Do you know where she is?" He asked.  
Cleo looked at Lewis for a second and answered instead of him. "Bella isn't feeling really well right now. She had an angina and has no voice right now. She's home, in bed, rusting. Probably she won't come for a couple of days. She asked me to tell you." Wow, I never knew Cleo was such a good liar. She always seemed to be the perfect girl, not at all a liar. That was a characteristic I'd rather give to Rikki.  
"How can she ask you without a voice?" Nate asked. Why was he always the one to ask the stupid questions, anyway? Sometimes I wondered if he's really that stupid, or that he's just pretending it.  
"Well Nate, big surprise. They've discovered something like texting." Lewis teased Nate. Ouch, that must have come hard to the stupid boy. He turned around, complaining to himself, back to the other 2 guys of the band. When he was standing behind his keyboard, he yelled so loud the entire café could hear it. "Lewis, are you finally coming?" Lewis sighed and looked at Cleo. "You can go. We'll handle it, don't worry." She smiled at him. So Lewis walked over to the stage while Cleo, Zane and Lauren headed to Zane's office. Will stayed with me at a table in the café, while Amber ordered our juices.


	15. Would we finally have any luck?

They were already 40 minutes in the office now. This was nerve-racking for me. But why actually? I was no friend of Cleo, nor Bella, nor the others. My only concerns were about myself. And Will, of course. He's still my little brother, even though he's bigger than me now. As the big sister, it was still my duty to take care of him. I had some small-talk with my brother and listened to the band. Some songs were without a singer, some were sung by Nate. But no-one can deny, not even me, they are much better with Bella as the singer. Mostly her lyrics are also much better than those of Nate. Nate was a good musician, but as singer-songwriter he sucked badly! Bella didn't, that is something that's hers. She's amazing at writing and singing.  
Wow, hold it there a sec, Sophie. Did you call Bella amazing? Damn', I did, again. Why was becoming so fond of my brother's friends the past few hours? This wasn't me, I don't like them, so why would I gave them compliments? Okay, I didn't tell them, but even thinking this wasn't like me. What was becoming of me all of a sudden? I didn't understand myself anymore.

When my second glace of juice was almost empty and Will and I ate the pancakes we had ordered (it was already past 6PM by now and we were both hungry), the door of the office finally opened. Will and I looked at Lauren, Zane and Cleo. Cleo nodded at Will and he signed me to get up. I did, after quickly finishing my juice. I followed my brother to Zane and Lauren, and Cleo went to the stage to talk to Lewis, after a quick conversation with her boyfriend, who was still drumming, she came back to us. "Okay, Sophie, you can go now. But don't try to trick us, or you'll regret. I guarantee you." She said to me.  
"But… Is Lauren going to help you?" I asked curiously.  
"That's none of your business, right now." She answered.  
"Okay, I understand." I nodded. So I kissed Will goodbye and walked out of the café. I decided to go home. Especially with that last warning, I wasn't up to something. I hope they knew that. I wished they trusted by now, but I could understand why they didn't. After all, I've blackmailed Rikki, I've never been nice to them, I dislike the way Bella treats my brother. Oh God, why was my head filled with so many questions and worries right now? I took a deep breath and filled my longs with the fresh air. It felt good. This little walk felt good.  
When I arrived home I entered through the front door. "Mom, I'm home." I yelled. I expected an answer, but there wasn't any. I walked to the kitchen, and saw a note on the table. _Hi Sophie and Will, your dad and I are having dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Potter at a restaurant downtown. If you're hungry, there's food in the fridge. You can heat it up in the microwave. Love, Mom  
_Maybe it was the best they weren't home, so I didn't have to explain why Will wasn't with me. I walked to the living room to watch TV. When I walked through the doorway, I felt 4 hands on my body putting me on the ground. I started kicking and screaming, but the hands were too strong. When my mouth, hands and legs were taped, they pulled me up. Then I saw Linda Denman standing in front of me, with a bright smile on her face. I was being held by 2 gorilla's that seemed to obey her.

They put me in the loading of a van and took me to a place I'd been before. The ride seemed endlessly. When we finally stopped, the gorilla's carried me inside the villa, downstairs to the basement that didn't look like a basement. There was a lot of weird equipment, but I knew exactly what is was meant for. They put me down and then the househusband came to me. "Well, well, Sophie. Did you really think you could betray me?" Harrison said. I tried to answer him, but couldn't. He grinned at me and then looked to the other three girls that were in the basement. The three blondes were laying against the wall, unconscious and tide up as well. I saw Rikki, Bella and a girl I'd only seen once on a picture before in Zane's office. I supposed she was the other mermaid, Emma.  
Suddenly I felt a hard knock on my head and then everything went black.

When I opened my eyes, I felt an enormous headache. The three blondes were looking at me. I felt a little uncomfortable by that. I tried to move over to them, but my head ached too much to sit up. When I role over to my side, I felt something hard on my hip. I realized it was my cell phone in my pocket. Those idiots had forgotten to take it away from me. Would we finally have any luck now? Oh damn, I did it again. I thought _we_.  
_Sophie, you've got to remember: you're on your own for this! You can't trust those fish_. The voice in my head yelled at me, and it felt like my head was going to explode because of the noise and the pain. I ignored the voice and moved my hands to my pocket. But I couldn't get my cell. I hummed to the others, they looked at me and understood me somehow. Bella crawled to me and sat with her back to me. After some fumbling she got it out of my pocket, and started typing blindly.  
_Basement of Zane's house_, the message she sent to Will said. I didn't know she could type so quickly without looking, without any error. It was like every hour I learned more about these girls, and the more I knew, the more I started to respect them, even like them. It was weird!  
When the message was sent, we heard the lock of the door, and some cracking. Then footsteps were coming down. Bella threw my cell immediately away to a corner of the basement, but Denman and Harrison didn't seem to have noticed it. This was really close!

Behind Denman and Harrison were 3 gorilla's walking now. How many of them had she anyway? One of them took me and carried me up to a bedroom on the first floor. He was followed by a gorilla carrying Bella, and one carrying Emma (or the girl I suppose who was Emma). Where was Rikki? One of the men stayed with us and the other two were going downstairs again.  
It seemed like hours we laid in the bedroom. There was nothing to see (except for the man who was walking circles), nothing to hear (except for the man's footsteps), nothing to do (except for becoming really annoyed by the man). And on me, it was really working. I hoped Will had received the message and would interpret it right. And then I realized something. I started moving my legs and making noise. The gorilla looked annoyed at me. "Shut it." He screamed, but I kept moving and humming. "Shut it, damn'd." he yelled again. Then he looked really pissed off at me and slapped me in the face. That was my breaking point. I moaned softly and felt my cheeks and my tights becoming wet. I started crying, because I realized I couldn't stop it anymore. I needed to pee, and now it was too late.  
I saw the gorilla looking at my wet jeans. He realized it too, and called for his buddy, who was apparently standing in the giant hallway. "Go get the boss. The red one peed in her pants." The other one cursed and I heard him running to the basement. Some talking and swearing followed and then quick, angry footsteps on the stairs. In less than a minute, Denman was standing in the doorway of the room.HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHhhhhh


	16. changing trousers and changing lifes

"I thought you already had outgrown diapers?" She smirked at me. I wanted to answer, but could only murmur back at her. She came to me and ripped the tape in one fluent motion of my mouth.  
"Ouch, that hurts!" I yelled.  
"Good." She grinned back at me. "What is it you want?"  
"Dry trousers would be nice."  
"Nice try, girl. You wet them, so you'll wear them."  
"I tried to tell your gorilla that I needed to go to the bathroom, but he wouldn't let me."  
Now she looked at the tall, muscular guy. "Is that true?" she asked him. He pulled his shoulders, guilty and ashamed. I thought it was rather funny. He didn't look so impressive to me any more right now. Now I knew it was Denman of whom I'd needed to be afraid. "Alright then." Denman said. "_You_ wet them, so _you_'ll wear them."  
The gorilla looked astounded at her. "What?"  
"You heard me." She said with a cold voice. "you can take off your trousers in the bathroom. Jo, you bring Danny's trousers here and then you can give Sophie's trousers to Danny." Now the second guy looked as astounded as the first one, and as me.  
"You want us to what?" I asked her. "He'll never fit in mine. He'll just ripped them apart."  
"Hmm… true." She thought for a second. "Okay, Danny you can keep your trousers, but yet another mistake like this one, and you can walk around in your boxers… _or worse_. Got it?" She looked at him and he nodded shyly. "And now you can all leave for a second, and close the door behind you."  
The boys walked outside, closed the door and Denman walked to the wardrobe. She fumbled on one of the shelves and brought out a jeans. "Let me undo your trousers and put these on." She commanded me.  
"No!" I said.  
"Shall I get one of my men to do it, then?" She asked me with a fake smile.  
"No! I can chance myself."  
"Did you really think I would untie your hands so you can change your trousers yourself? How naive do you think I am?"  
"Alright, you do it then." I sighed.

A few minutes later I was wearing dry trousers. My panties were still wet, but I guess it was better than nothing, right? Denman was now leaving the room, but just before closing the door she said something. "Oh, when you let your brother know where you are, and you don't want us to find out… then tell him not to try to call you on your cell phone. Bye ladies."

What? Will had tried to call me after we'd sent him that text message. Fuck it! Now we were totally screwed! Damned! What were we supposed to do now? I looked with a terrified look at Emma and Bella. They saw the anxiety in my eyes and both pulled their shoulders. They knew it too: we were totally screwed!

Again sometime passed. I had no idea how long we'd been lying here now. Minutes, hours, a whole day maybe? Then there were footsteps in the hallway, on the stairs. The door opened and a man carrying Rikki, entered the room. She was unconscious, but her eyes looked red, as if she'd been crying. And if there was one thing I knew about Rikki, it was that she wasn't the crying type. What had they done to her? He laid Rikki down, next to me and walked over to where Bella was lying. I could suddenly see the panic in her eyes. She shook her head heavily, as a protest, but couldn't do anything against the gorilla's force. He carried her out of the room, down the stairs.  
Later Rikki woke up, I saw her passing looks with Emma. Looks I didn't understand. I wondered how they understood each other. Maybe because of their longtime friendship, maybe because of some mermaid-telepathy I didn't know of, maybe because of some other reason I didn't know.  
I felt lonely now. They had some way of communication I didn't understand. I was far away from my brother, from my family. I missed them. I started wondering if I'd ever see them again. What would happen next? I was terrified, because of the ignorance. I was used of having everything under control. It had always been that way, until I started blackmailing Rikki. Now it felt like I was more and more losing grip on things. On my own life, on reality, on everything. I couldn't make sense out of it. And then one big question popped into my head. How much had these girls' secret changed my life, had it changed me?

The more I thought about it, the less I knew the answer. But then there was a lot of noise downstairs that got me out of my thoughts, back into reality. Noise that even gave me a little hope.


	17. Rescue or not?

Suddenly there was a lot of noise downstairs. I had no idea what it was, but I hoped it would be rescue. I heard shouting, a lot of people, even chaos amongst Denman's men. I heard people coming upstairs, spreading around the house and then someone in black entered the room. The person took off his mask, and there was a friendly woman-face behind it. She smiled at us. "Don't worry girls, everything's alright." She said with a soft voice. She took a knife and started to untie our hands and legs. "We're from the police. It will be okay." She repeated.

Then everything went so quickly. Denman, Harrison and Denman's men were arrested. We were brought to the police station, where we were reunited with our family and friends. We'd been interrogated and when they asked me why we'd been kidnapped I couldn't answer. I said I had no idea. I couldn't tell them. I felt like I needed to protect the girls. Somehow I'd grown quite fondly of them.

Apparently Emma had been kidnapped in Bangladesh, still on a world trip with her parents, as soon as Denman found out they were still mermaids.  
And the text message to Will had triggered our rescue. He'd informed the police immediately and later tried to call me on my cell, just in case that I might answer it. So, the message had been _our_ luck, after all.  
I'd been told Lauren would keep the secret too. She understood everything clearly now, and her old friendship was too valuable to her, to break it 'for something like this', as she stated it. My plan of informing her, hadn't been necessary after all, but it had one benefit: Zane was relieved he didn't have to lie to his sister anymore. He even thanked me for it. The others also thanked me, for keeping their secret to the police, to their parents, and to the rest of the world.  
And of one thing I now did know the answer: the girls and their secret definitely had changed me and my life.

It was like everything turned out alright after all. We realized it had been close, and that we'd been very lucky. I don't know if it you could call it friendship what I now had with the girls, since I was still the one who had started all of this. But there was definitely something good in our relationship now. It wasn't the rivalry anymore, it had once been. And it may sound weird (especially when this comes from me, I know) : in some way, I liked this new relationship.

A few days later, we were all at the café. Cleo, Rikki, Will and Emma were talking about all kind of stuff, while listening to the band's rehearsal. Nate seemed happy to have Bella back. Zane, Lauren and I were working (Somehow they didn't mind, giving me my job back :-D) and to the outside world it seemed like nothing serious had happened. We'd been rescued in time. Only we knew the whole truth.  
Around 2 in the afternoon, right after the band stopped playing, a few men came into the café. Some of them rushed right to 3 of the 4 mermaids. Zane ran over to the guy who seemed the boss and asked him what was going on. "Sorry boy, I can't tell you. National secrecy." He said, looking at Zane. Then he turned his head to the other strange guys. "Come on boys, let's get out of here." The men obeyed their boss and exited with Bella, Rikki and Emma.  
We looked wondering at each other. What was going on? If they knew the secret, why hadn't they taken Cleo?

24 hours later we knew the answer. Apparently Harrison and Denman hadn't kept the secret, and their proof had been found in the Zane's basement. There had only been proof of Emma, Rikki and Bella, so Cleo went free.

**A/N: This isn't a really long chapter, but it's actually the last chapter. There will be an epilogue and then that's it. I'm happy you've read and enjoyed it.**


	18. Epilogue

It has been 3 months now, since the last time Will has spoken to me. He blames me about Emma, Bella and Rikki being taken.  
After Harrison and Linda had talked to the police, the government was informed by the police about the mermaids. There was evidence, so we couldn't do anything to free them.  
Will thinks I'm guilty, because I meddled with things that weren't mine. I think the same way of myself. If I hadn't been so curious about Lauren, if I hadn't gone and talked to Harrison that first time, if I hadn't blackmailed Rikki, if I … If I had a way to make things right again, I'd do it.  
Will isn't speaking to me anymore and I can't blame him. He misses Bella terribly and it is all my fault. I can only repeat over and over to him how much I'm sorry about everything, but he doesn't listen. He doesn't wanna hear it, and again I can't blame him. He's my little brother. I've always felt very protective of him. That's why I didn't like his friends at first, I thought there was something wrong with them, and now I know I was right. And wrong, at the same time. Although they weren't really normal, they've never meant him harm. But now I haven't protected him, I've only hurt him. I've destroyed his almost-girlfriend, his friend and a girl he didn't know but who was precious to his friends.

Our parents, and the parents and family of the others also found out the truth. Everyone was shocked. Family ties are broken, friendships are over. Our entire town was put upside down. Because everyone noticed things weren't okay anymore, because everyone hates me – yes everyone, not only Will – I've moved to Canberra, with our grandmother. I still try to call Will every day, but every time my mom answers the phone and tells me Will doesn't want to talk to me. Again, I can't blame him.  
I can only hope he'll forgive one day for what I've did, and maybe, just maybe, he'll talk to me again.

Also for the others, I could only hope that once they will be able to leave it all behind them. No one has heard or seen Emma, Rikki or Bella since that day at the café. Cleo's still a mermaid and free, but she feels very lonely. She doesn't enjoy it anymore like she used to. Lewis, Lauren and Zane try to live with the new circumstances, but they also have it very hard. Zane and Lauren try to manage the café and Lewis and Cleo are still together, but nothing is like it used to be. They don't know what to do, how to move on. I hope one day, they'll find a way to do so.

As for me, I'll have to find a way to live with myself in peace again. To live again with a clear conscious. I wonder if it will be ever possible, but I can try. Maybe now living a good life, can make up for my mistakes, for my bad deeds. I wonder if it will ever work, but I can prey, I can hope, I can try. But no matter what has happened, it's no use crying over spilled milk. We can only look to the future, and hope it will be okay one day.  
But until we know that Bella, Emma and Rikki are okay, and back with their family and friends, it won't. Ever.

**A/N: So, this was Sophie's story. Thank you for reading my story. I hope you've liked it and you can always leave comments. ;-)  
I'm really busy with school lately, so I don't know if I will start writing on new stories anytime soon. But if I do, you'll can find them of FF, of course.**

**Bye -x- **


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